Disney Stops Funding to Boy Scouts of America Over Gay Ban

The Walt Disney Co. announced it is pulling funding to the Boy Scouts of America because the organization bans openly gay troop leaders.

Although the Boy Scouts began welcoming gay scouts in January, the group still forbids gay members after they turn 18 — as well as gay parents — from leading troops and packs.

Disney didn't reveal how much money it has donated to the organization in the past, according to NBC affiliate WESH in Orlando. But the entertainment company said it will stop its funding starting in 2015 in a letter that was posted online last week.

In the past, Disney’s "Ears to You" program, in which volunteers do community work in return for grants to the charitable organization of their choice, selected scouting communities to receive up to $6,000, according to The Walt Disney Company's 2010 corporate citizenship report.

The Boy Scouts said in a statement that it is "disappointed" in Disney's decision, which will "impact our ability to serve kids."